All aboard The Flying Dustman
25 Apr 2018
5 mins
Learn how Biffa is partnering with GB Railfreight to trasport waste via rail.
To signify a new partnership between Biffa and GB Railfreight, a freight locomotive has been christened ‘The Flying Dustman’, painted in the iconic Biffa red. This is the first of two Biffa trains to be launched.
The Flying Dustman is an Inter-Modal and Biomass Waste Hauler, forming an integral part of Biffa’s ongoing strategy to take waste off the road. To begin with, this waste disposal strategy will fuse a connection between Manchester and Leeds with Biffa’s Roxby landfill facility. Once the rail links are fully up and running, this service is estimated to transport approximately 250,000 tonnes of inactive hazardous waste to unused landfill sites.
Biffa’s Managing Director of the Resource Recovery and Treatment Division, Mick Davis, commented: “The partnership with GB Railfreight marks another step forward in our strategy to develop our waste management infrastructure and innovate our customer offering.”
Helping to reduce environmental impact
This new method of hazardous waste transportation is said to equate to over 15,000 truck journeys, which proves the efficiency of the new relationship between Biffa and GB Railfreight. By taking waste off the road and moving it in a much quicker way, The Flying Dustman minimises the environmental impact of transporting waste.
Landfill is a vitally important part of the waste hierarchy. Thanks to improved waste management across the country, recycling levels have increased, however the need for landfill is still very much part of the process. There is still no other option for waste that can’t be recycled or combusted. As mentioned in our 2017 report ‘The Reality Gap’: “current landfill capacity is rapidly diminishing.”
Now that there is a significant shortage of accessible, fully operational landfill sites, waste is travelling for a lot longer from its source to its disposal location. The introduction of rail waste transport will offer serious advantages over waste transport by road.
Keep an eye out!
Wednesday 28th March saw the launch of this freight locomotive in York. The Flying Dustman is also painted with its locomotive numbers ‘66783’, which has contributed to its increasing impact across social media. It’s safe to say The Flying Dustman has caused quite a stir within the trainspotting community!
One fan tweeted: “This is just brilliant. Top marks to whoever came up with the idea @GBRailfrieght”.
Biffa have seen some great pictures of The Flying Dustman across social media, taken and posted by fans. We are keen to see more! If you spot The Flying Dustman, be sure to share your pictures and videos on Twitter – @Biffa, #66783.
